Intentions to Marry, 1913 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840453, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1913 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1913a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1913b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1913c).

Page 083

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1913 Registrar Frank Evans

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

275

1 April 1913

Eric Robert Irving Croker
Sarah Linskey

Bachelor
Spinster

Warehouseman
Schoolteacher

26
20

Christchurch
Christchurch

1 1/2 years
4 years

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

Not solemnized, see attached

1 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	275
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Eric Robert Irving Croker	Sarah Linskey
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Warehouseman	Schoolteacher
Age	26	20
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	1 1/2 years	4 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	Not solemnized, see attached
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

276

1 April 1913

Herbert Richard Plimsoll
Florence Eliza Harriet (commonly known as Hunt)

Herbert Richard Plimsoll
Florence Eliza Hunt
💍 1913/2647

Bachelor
Spinster

Clerk

25
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

25 years
28 years

Office of Registrar, Christchurch

13/2267

1 April 1913

Registrar

No	276
Date of Notice	1 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Richard Plimsoll	Florence Eliza Harriet (commonly known as Hunt)
BDM Match (70%)	Herbert Richard Plimsoll	Florence Eliza Hunt
	💍 1913/2647
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Clerk
Age	25	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	25 years	28 years
Marriage Place	Office of Registrar, Christchurch
Folio	13/2267
Consent
Date of Certificate	1 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Registrar

277

2 April 1913

Andrew Chisholm Galloway
Edith Derry

Andrew Chisholm Galloway
Edith Derry
💍 1913/4034

Bachelor
Spinster

Bookseller
Milliner

30
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 weeks

St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch

13/3576

2 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	277
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Andrew Chisholm Galloway	Edith Derry
	💍 1913/4034
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bookseller	Milliner
Age	30	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 weeks
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church, Christchurch
Folio	13/3576
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

278

2 April 1913

Kenneth Anderson
Wilhelmine Frances Ferguson

Kenneth Anderson
Wilhelmina Frances Ferguson
💍 1913/4045

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Housekeeper

30
38

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
5 days

St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch

13/3577

2 April 1913

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	278
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Kenneth Anderson	Wilhelmine Frances Ferguson
BDM Match (98%)	Kenneth Anderson	Wilhelmina Frances Ferguson
	💍 1913/4045
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Housekeeper
Age	30	38
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	5 days
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Manse, Christchurch
Folio	13/3577
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

279

2 April 1913

William Oreste Bergamini
Minnie Constance Evangelina Higgott

William Creste Bergamini
Minnie Constance Evangelina Higgott
💍 1913/4202

Bachelor
Spinster

Monumental Mason

22
21

Linwood
Linwood

3 years
18 years

House of the F. Higgott, Osborne St., Linwood

13/3653

2 April 1913

Rev. O. S. Mason

No	279
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Oreste Bergamini	Minnie Constance Evangelina Higgott
BDM Match (98%)	William Creste Bergamini	Minnie Constance Evangelina Higgott
	💍 1913/4202
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Monumental Mason
Age	22	21
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	3 years	18 years
Marriage Place	House of the F. Higgott, Osborne St., Linwood
Folio	13/3653
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. O. S. Mason

280

2 April 1913

Donald Patrick McDonald
Ellen Batchelor

Donald Patrick McDonald
Ellen Batchelor
💍 1913/4056

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

23
21

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch

13/3582

2 April 1913

Rev. R. Richards

No	280
Date of Notice	2 April 1913
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Donald Patrick McDonald	Ellen Batchelor
	💍 1913/4056
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	23	21
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Cathedral, Christchurch
Folio	13/3582
Consent
Date of Certificate	2 April 1913
Officiating Minister	Rev. R. Richards

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).